Finance/Business/Economy News
1. ICICI Bank launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat
The Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) Bank on 2 January 2015 launched Digital Village Project in Akodara Village of Gujarat.
The project was launched in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and ICICI Bank MD and CEO Chanda Kochar.
The project aimed to provide services ranging from cashless banking to digitised school teaching. The digital village has three themes i.e. cashless, comprehensive and connected.
The project embarked the 60 year celebration of the ICICI group's existence since the erstwhile ICICI Ltd was set up in 1955.
Features of Project
Providing cash-less banking services to every villager.
Banking was digitized in all offerings of bank ranging from opening an account to sale of goods to purchase of products including milk from the vendor or kirana stores.
At the same time, the school records were digitized alongwith the Gujarat syllabus and even teaching methods and tools.
The project aimed to ensure that all villagers must have access to all the required data and information in a digital format.
The villagers will get SMS in Gujarati for their transactions and other digital services.
Besides ATMs and other digital banking services, the bank has set up e-health, e-milk producer group, Wi-Fi connectivity and schools with digital black boards in the village, along with a host of other digital facilities.
Earlier, the village named Akodara in Sabarkantha district of Gujarat gained fame when the then CM of Gujarat Narendra Modi started Gujarat's first animal hostel in 2011.
The animal hostel is a concept conceived by Modi. Animal Hostel is a place where the cattle of the village are kept and maintained together and have all necessary infrastructure facilities to take care of them.
2. Gyan Sangam: PM promises greater state bank autonomy
Addressing a gathering of chiefs of India’s public sector banks, Prime Minister Narendra Modi vowed his government would stay away from “political interference” that has long been seen as its Achilles Heel but called upon them to take steps to strengthen their operations, achieve scale, boost financial literacy and inclusion and help in augmenting economic growth in the country.
The PM was speaking at the culmination of Gyan Sangam, a first-of-its-kind, two-day summit held in Pune that saw senior banking executives and top officials from the government and the Reserve Bank of India gather to discuss ways to strength the public banking sector.
Apart from the prime minister, finance ministers Arun Jaitley and Jayant Sinha (MoS), RBI chief Raghuram Rajan and chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian too attended the event.
Over two days, the event saw banking officials conduct various seminars and group discussions on key issues such as ensuring greater autonomy for banks, improving risk management practices, their recapitalization needs, improve asset quality and curb black money among others.
3. Intel invests $24.8 million to speed up launch of Google Glass rival
Vuzix Corporation said that Intel Corp invested $24.8 million in the company to speed up the launch of internet-connected eyewear.
Intel bought preferred stock that is convertible into common shares equivalent to 30% of Vuzix, Vuzix said in a press release.
Rochester, New York-based Vuzix develops computerized, internet-connected glasses and other video eyewear aimed at consumers, businesses and entertainment.
Intel officials were not immediately available for comment.
Intel, which was slow to launch chips for smartphones and tablets, is striving to be at the forefront of future trends in mobile computing and expand into new markets, including smartwatches and other internet-connected "wearables".
News Related to India and Indian Polity
4. Union Government accepted Bezbaruah panel report on safety of North East people
Union Government on 2 January 2014 accepted the recommendations of the Bezbaruah committee. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that the recommendations will be implemented in next 6 months.
The Bezbaruah committee of five members was set up under chairmanship of M P Bezbaruah in February 2014 to look into the concerns of the people of the North East living in other parts of the country.
The committee was constituted after the killing of Arunachal Pradesh student Nido Tania in a Delhi market. The report was submitted to the Home Ministry in July 2014.
Main recommendations of the committee
It has recommended immediate, short term and long term measures to be implemented in certain time periods
Immediate – to be implemented within 6 months to 1 year
Short Term – to be implemented within a period of 1 to 1.5 years
Long Term – to be implemented within a period of 1.5 years to 3 years
Immediate measures:
The committee has recommended amendment of Section 153 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as the second alternative
Insertion of a new law in Indian Penal Code to deal with the rising against people of this region.
The new law should include among others
Any offence against them should be made cognizable and non-bailable.
It also says that the investigation of the FIR should be completed in 60 days
A Special Prosecutor should be appointed to handle all such cases atrocities
The trail should be completed within 90 days
5. Kiran Bhai Vadodaria elected as INS president
Kiran Bhai Vadodaria on 2 January 2015 was elected as President of the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) for 2014-15. He is the Chairman and Managing Director of Gujarati newspaper Sambhaav Metro.
He succeeded Ravindra Kumar of The Statesman. The appointment was announced at the 75th annual general meeting of the organization in New Delhi.
PV Chandran of Grihalakshmi was elected Deputy President of the INS while Somesh Sharma of Rastradoot was made Vice President.
Mohit Jain of Economic Times and V Shankaran were appointed as Treasurer and Secretary General of INS.
Among the 41-member Executive Committee, the notable members include Mahendra Mohan Gupta (Dainik Jagran), Sanjay Gupta (Dainik Jagran), Shailesh Gupta (Mid-Day), Vijay Kumar Chopra (Punjab Kesri), Viveck Goenka (The Indian Express, Mumbai), R Lakshmipathy (Dinamalar) and Jayant Mammen Mathew (Malayala Manorama).
The society was founded in 1939. Its headquarter is located in New Delhi.
The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) acts as the central organization of the Press of India. It is an independent body authenticating circulation figures of newspapers and periodicals in India. It is an organization which plays a major role in protecting and promoting the freedom of press in India.
International News
6. US slaps sanctions on North Korea in response to Sony cyber attack
This is in "response" to North Korea's "ongoing provocative, destabilising and repressive actions and policies, particularly its destructive and coercive cyber-attack" on Sony Pictures Entertainment, the White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.
In an executive order, Obama authorised the Secretary of the Treasury to impose sanctions on individuals and entities associated with North Korea.
The Treasury Department immediately slapped sanctions on three entities and 10 North Korean individuals.
The three organisations are Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), Korea Mining Development Trading Corporation (KOMID) and Korea Tangun Trading Corporation.
The US blames North Korea for a cyber attack on Sony Pictures that saw the release of a trove of embarrassing emails, scripts and other internal communications, including information about salaries and employee health records. However, North Korea has denied its involvement in the hack.
The new sanctions escalates financial pressure on North Korea, including its agencies, instrumentalities, and controlled entities, by authorising targeted sanctions that would deny designated persons access to the US financial system and prohibit US persons from engaging in transactions or dealings with it.
7. Jaffna-Kankasanthurai rail track restored by IRCON in North Sri Lanka inaugurated
18 kilometer long Jaffna-Kankasanthurai rail track in North Sri Lanka was inaugurated on 2 January 2015 by Sri Lanka’s Transport Minister Kumara Welgama. To mark the inauguration, famous Yal Devi Express was flagged off.
The restoration work of the commercial rail service covering a distance of 18 kilometers has been completed by Indian Railway’s construction company (IRCON).
The track corridor has two crossing stations at Kondavil and Chunnakam and five halt stations at Kokuvil, Inuvil, Mallakam, Tellipalai and Mavittapuram.
The rail track that connects Colombo and Kankesanthurai passes through the high security zone which was freed from the Tamil Tigers in 2009.
Sports News
8. Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara became fastest to score 12000 Test runs
Kumar Sangakkara, former Sri Lankan cricket captain, on 3 January 2014 became the fastest cricketer to reach 12000 Test runs. The left-handed batsman reached the milestone in his 224th innings played during the Sri Lanka’s second Test match against New Zealand played in Wellington.
Players in 12000 runs Club include
Sachin Tendulkar: 15291 Runs at an average of 53.78 in 247 innings
Ricky Ponting: 13378 Runs at an average of 51.85 in 247 innings
Jacques Kallis: 13289 Runs at an average of 55.37
Rahul Dravid: 13288 Runs at an average of 52.31
Kumar Sangakkara: 12028 Runs (playing) at an average of 58.00
Sangakkara who launched his Test career in Cricket has made an impressive average of over 58.00, which include 37 centuries in 130 tests. His highest score was 319 against Bangladesh.
Earlier on 3 December 2014, Sangakkara became the fourth player to score 13000 runs in ODI cricket. Other three players to score 13000 runs in ODIs are Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting and Sanath Jayasuriya.
9. Union Govt rejects Saina Nehwal's Padma Award appeal
Olympic bronze-medallist Saina Nehwal has been left disappointed after the Sports Ministry decided to reject her application for the prestigious Padma Bhushan award this year, citing norms.
Badminton Association of India (BAI) had recommended Saina’s name for the award to the Sports Ministry in August last year but the ministry picked two-time Olympic medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar as it felt he was a more deserving candidate.
The 24-year-old claimed that her application was rejected last year also on similar grounds but this year, the ministry decided to recommend Sushil’s name even though he has not completed the five—year norm after being bestowed with the Padma Shri in 2011.